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Hekhalot Literature
The Hekhalot literature (sometimes transliterated Heichalot) from the Hebrew word for "Palaces", relating to visions of ascents into heavenly palaces. The genre overlaps with '' Merkabah'' or "Chariot" literature, concerning Ezekiel's chariot, so the two are sometimes referred to together as "Books of the Palaces and the Chariot" (). The Hekhalot literature is a genre of Jewish esoteric and revelatory texts produced some time between late antiquity – some believe from Talmudic times or earlier – to the Early Middle Ages. Many motifs of later Kabbalah are based on the Hekhalot texts, and the Hekhalot literature itself is based upon earlier sources, including traditions about heavenly ascents of Enoch found among the Dead Sea scrolls and the Hebrew Bible pseudepigrapha. Texts Some of the Hekhalot texts are: * ''Hekhalot Zutartey'' ("Lesser Palaces" or "Palaces Minor"; Hebrew: היכלות זוטרתי), which details an ascent of Rabbi Akiva through the Heavens, seeking revela ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Merkabah Mysticism
Merkabah ( he, מֶרְכָּבָה ''merkāvā'', "chariot") or Merkavah mysticism (lit. Chariot mysticism) is a school of early Jewish mysticism, c. 100 BCE – 1000 CE, centered on visions such as those found in the Book of Ezekiel chapter 1, or in the hekhalot literature ("palaces" literature), concerning stories of ascents to the heavenly palaces and the Throne of God. The main corpus of the merkabah literature was composed in the period 200–700 CE, although later references to the Chariot tradition can also be found in the literature of the Chassidei Ashkenaz in the Middle Ages. A major text in this tradition is the '' Maaseh Merkabah'' ( Hebrew: מַעֲשֵׂה מֶרְכָּבָה ''maʿăśē merkāvā'', "Work of the Chariot"). Etymology The noun ''merkabah/merkavah'' "thing to ride in, cart" is derived from the consonantal root ' with the general meaning "to ride". The word "chariot" is found 44 times in the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible—most of them re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maaseh Merkabah
The ''Ma'aseh Merkabah'' ("Work of the Chariot" מעשה מרכבה) is a Hebrew-language Jewish mystical text dating from the Gaonic period which comprises a collection of hymns recited by the "descenders" and heard during their ascent. It is part of the tradition of Merkabah mysticism and the Hekhalot literature. The text was first edited by Gershom Scholem (1965). An English translation by Janowitz can be found in her ''Poetics of Ascent,'' pages 29–81. The critical edition and translation of the text was published by Michael D. Swartz. Contents Like most other Hekhalot texts, the Ma'aseh Merkabah revolves around the knowledge of secret names of God used theurgically for mystical ascent. It begins with a conversation between Rabbi Ishmael and Rabbi Akiva, where the latter expounds on the mysteries of the spiritual world, as well as describing the appearance of the heavenly planes. Hymns with long lists of secret names of God are present throughout the text, as well as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smaller Midrashim
A number of midrashim exist which are smaller in size, and generally later in date, than those dealt with in the articles Midrash Haggadah and Midrash Halakah. Despite their late date, some of these works preserve material from the Apocrypha and Philo of Alexandria. These small works, were in turn used by later larger works, such as Sefer haYashar (midrash). Important editors and researchers of this material include Abraham ben Elijah of Vilna, Adolf Jellinek, and Solomon Aaron Wertheimer. Principal works The chief of these works are: * '' Midrash Abba Gorion'', a late midrash to the Book of Esther * ''Midrash Abkir'', on the first two books of the Torah. Only fragments survive. * '' Midrash Al Yithallel'', stories about David, Solomon, and the rich Korah * '' Midrash Aseret ha-Dibrot'', a haggadah for Shavuot * ''Chronicle of Moses'' (or ''Divrei ha-Yamim shel Mosheh'') * '' Midrash Eleh Ezkerah'', on the execution of the ten sages by the Roman emperor Hadrian. * '' Midrash E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Primary Texts Of Kabbalah
The primary texts of Kabbalah were allegedly once part of an ongoing oral tradition. The written texts are obscure and difficult for readers who are unfamiliar with Jewish spirituality which assumes extensive knowledge of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), Midrash (Jewish hermeneutic tradition) and halakha (Jewish religious law). The Torah For kabbalists, ten utterances in Genesis with which God created the world are linked to the ten sefirot—the divine structure of all being. According to the Zohar and the Sefer ha-Yihud, the Torah is synonymous with God.Kabbalah: New Perspectives, Moshe Idel, Yale University Press, 1988. More specifically, in the Sefer ha-Yihud, the letters in the Torah are the forms of God. The kabbalist looks beyond the literal aspects of the text, to find the hidden mystical meaning. The text not only offers traditions and ways of thinking, but it also reveals the reality of God. One of the first Jewish philosophers, Philo of Alexandria (20BCE-40), said t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pseudepigraph
Pseudepigrapha (also anglicized as "pseudepigraph" or "pseudepigraphs") are falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past.Bauckham, Richard; "Pseudo-Apostolic Letters", ''Journal of Biblical Literature'', Vo. 107, No. 3, September 1988, pp. 469–94. In biblical studies, the term ''pseudepigrapha'' can refer to an assorted collection of Jewish religious works thought to be written 300 BCE to 300 CE. They are distinguished by Protestants from the deuterocanonical books (Catholic and Orthodox) or Apocrypha (Protestant), the books that appear in extant copies of the Septuagint in the fourth century or later and the Vulgate, but not in the Hebrew Bible or in Protestant Bibles. The Catholic Church distinguishes only between the deuterocanonical and all other books; the latter are called biblical apocrypha, which in Catholic usage includes the pseudepigrapha. In addition, two books consi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alphabet Of Akiba Ben Joseph
Alphabet of Rabbi Akiva ( he, אלפא-ביתא דרבי עקיבא, ''Alpha-Beta de-Rabbi Akiva''), otherwise known as Letters of Rabbi Akiva ( he, אותיות דרבי עקיבא, ''Otiot de-Rabbi Akiva'') or simply Alphabet or Letters, is a midrash on the names of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Two versions or portions of this midrash are known to exist. Version A of ''Alphabet'' Version A, which is considered by Adolf Jellinek to be the older form, and by to be of a much more recent origin, introduces the various anthropomorphized letters of the Hebrew alphabet that God engraved from His crown with a pen of fire contending with each other for the honor of forming the beginning of creation (bereshit). It is based upon Genesis Rabbah 1 and Shir haShirim Rabbah on 5:11, according to which Aleph (א) complained before God that Bet (ב) was preferred to it, but was assured that the Torah of Sinai, the object of creation, would begin with Aleph (אנכי = Anochi = I am); it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Sword Of Moses
''The Sword of Moses'' is the title of an apocryphal Jewish book of magic edited by Moses Gaster in Israel, in 1896 from a 13th- or 14th-century manuscript from his own collection, formerly MS Gaster 78, now London, British Library MS Or. 10678. Gaster assumed that the text predates the 11th century, based on a letter by Rav Hai Gaon (939-1038) which mentions the book alongside the Sefer ha-Yashar, described as another book of formulas, and that it may even date to as early as the first four centuries CE. Besides the medieval manuscript used by Gaster, a short fragment of the text survives in Cod. Oxford 1531. A new critical edition was printed in 1997 by the Israeli scholar Yuval Harari based on a variant text found in another manuscript. An English translation of the same was published in 2012. Contents The largest manuscript of the ''Sword of Moses'' begins with a description of the heavenly realms and angels, and soon moves onto describing various prayers, invocations, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sepher Ha-Razim
''Sefer HaRazim'' ( he, ספר הרזים; "Book of Secrets") is a Jewish magical text supposedly given to Noah by the angel Raziel, and passed down throughout Biblical history until it ended up in the possession of Solomon, for whom it was a great source of his wisdom and purported magical powers. Note that this is not the same work as the '' Sefer Raziel HaMalakh'', which was given to Adam by the same angel, although both works stem from the same tradition, and large parts of ''Sefer HaRazim'' were incorporated into the ''Sefer Raziel'' under its original title. It is thought to be a sourcebook for Jewish magic, calling upon angels rather than God to perform supernatural feats. Discovery The text was rediscovered in the 20th century by Mordecai Margalioth, a Jewish scholar visiting Oxford in 1963, using fragments found in the Cairo Geniza. He hypothesised that several fragments of Jewish magical literature shared a common source and was certain that he could reconstruct t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shi'ur Qomah
Shi’ur Qomah ( he, שיעור קומה, lit. Dimensions of the Body) is a midrashic text that is part of the Hekhalot literature. It purports to record, in anthropomorphic terms, the secret names and precise measurements of God's corporeal limbs and parts. The majority of the text is recorded in the form of sayings or teachings that the angel Metatron revealed to the tanna Rabbi Ishmael, who transmitted it to his students and his contemporary Rabbi Akiva. It is also an exegetical analysis of Song of Songs 5:11-16 and proclaims that anyone who studies it is guaranteed a portion in the World to Come. Provenance and interpretation Currently the text exists only in fragmentary form, and scholars have debated how to appropriately date it. Modern academic scholars of Jewish mysticism, such as Gershom Scholem are of the opinion that it is from “either the Tannaitic or the early Amoraic period.” However, in the 12th Century, the rationalist Jewish philosopher Maimonides declared ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
3 Enoch
The Third Book of Enoch ( he, ספר חנוך לר׳ ישמעאל כ׳׳ג , abbreviated as 3 Enoch) is a Biblical apocryphal book in Hebrew. 3 Enoch purports to have been written in the 2nd century, but its origins can only be traced to the 5th century. Other names for 3 Enoch include The Book of the Palaces, The Book of Rabbi Ishmael the High Priest and The Revelation of Metatron. Most commonly, the Book of Enoch refers to 1 Enoch, which survived completely only in Ge'ez. There is also a Second Book of Enoch, which has survived only in Old Slavonic, although Coptic fragments were also identified in 2009. None of the three books are considered canonical scripture by the majority of Jewish or Christian bodies. Content Modern scholars describe this book as pseudepigraphal, as it says it is written by "Rabbi Ishmael" who became a "high priest" after visions of ascension to Heaven. This has been taken as referring to Rabbi Ishmael, a 3rd generation Tanna and a leading figure of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ten Martyrs
The Ten Martyrs ( he, עֲשֶׂרֶת הָרוּגֵי מַלְכוּת ''ʿAsereṯ hāRūgēi Malḵūṯ'', "The Ten Royal Martyrs") were ten rabbis living during the era of the Mishnah who were martyred by the Roman Empire in the period after the destruction of the Second Temple. Their story is detailed in Midrash Eleh Ezkerah. Although not killed at the same time (since two of the rabbis listed lived well before the other eight), a dramatic poem (known as '' Eleh Ezkera'') tells their story as if they were killed together. This poem is recited on Yom Kippur, and a variation of it on Tisha B'Av. Story as told in the poem ''Eleh Ezkerah'' In the poem, the Roman emperor Hadrian decides to martyr ten rabbis as 'punishment' for the ten brothers listed in the Torah who sold their brother Joseph to Ancient Egypt. He justifies this by saying that the penalty for this was death. Though this crime took place almost 2000 years earlier, and Jewish law does not allow for the descendant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
